Thursday, May 31, 2012

-Three Jersey calves were filmed being killed on the Channel 4 programme featuring farmer Jimmy Doherty-Nearly 60 people complained about the graphic scenes aired at 9.30pm on Tuesday

By Paul Revoir

Alarming: Scenes on the programme proved too much for some viewers and the channel received 58 complaints

Harrowing scenes of newly-born dairy calves being lined up and shot dead simply because they are male have left television viewers sickened.

The images of three Jersey calves being killed were filmed to highlight the grim reality of the dairy industry.

The Channel 4 programme, featuring farmer Jimmy Doherty, was explaining how more than 90,000 male dairy calves are shot at birth every year because there is no market for them.

But graphic scenes of a ‘knacker man’ pointing his gun to the head of the calves and shooting them in their brains was too gruesome for many.

Shocking: Graphic scenes of a 'knacker man' pointing his gun to the head of the calves and shooting them in their brains was too gruesome for some

Last night Channel 4 said it had received 58 complaints about the first episode of Jimmy and the Giant Supermarket, while the media regulator Ofcom had received more than ten. Viewers described the footage as ‘sick’, ‘horrific’ and one of the most upsetting things they had seen on TV.

Channel 4 showed the slaughterman creeping up beside the calves, who were about a day old or younger, before pulling his trigger.One of the animals was seen collapsing, then the camera cut away to the face of the presenter as the other two were killed.

They were then taken away to be rendered down to tallow to fuel a Belgian power station. Mr Doherty was later seen planning to make his own range of meatballs in an attempt to tackle the ‘huge’ problem in the dairy industry of unwanted male calves.

'Jimmy and the Giant Supermarket' showed a dairy farmer slaughtering three young male calves at 9.30pm on Tuesday night

The programme, featuring farmer Jimmy Doherty, was explaining how more than 90,000 male dairy calves are shot at birth every year because there is no market for them

The TV farmer suggested slaughtered animals could instead be raised for veal.

He said British rose veal was ‘high welfare’ but because of previous cruelty concerns around this kind of meat, male calves were still viewed as a ‘waste product’.

The scenes, which aired at around 9.30pm on Tuesday, shocked many animal lovers.

One tweeted: ‘Harrowing scenes of male calves being euthanised on Jimmy and the Giant Supermarket.’ Another said: ‘Had to turn that Jimmy programme over, they were shooting male calves who were only a day old! Beautiful creatures, so sad! Feel sick.’ A third added: ‘One of the most upsetting things I’ve seen in ages. Just awful.’ Others described the scenes as ‘pretty horrific’ as another said the calves ‘looked like Bambi’.

Support: Animal charities backed the decision to show the scenes. The RSPCA said it was important to raise awareness about how food and drink is produced

Upset: Many distressed viewers took to Twitter to express their feelings. One described the scenes as 'sick'

But animal charities backed the decision to show the scenes. The RSPCA said it was important to raise awareness about how food and drink is produced.

A Channel 4 spokesman said: ‘We feel it is important to show the reality of this practice to offer viewers a rounded perspective of the issues the programme touches on.

‘The programme went out after the watershed, was preceded by a warning and the animals were killed humanely by an expert.’

Help, I'm in a tight spot! A wild leopard after it fell into a water tank in Sangatram, north-east India

Stuck in a slimy pond, this leopard was certainly in a tight spot.

But the wild cat, who fell in the gungy reservoir surrounded by a 14ft wall, was given a lucky escape after rescuers put a ladder in the water.Rescue attempt: A wildlife official wearing a crash helmet for safety throws in a rope and a net to no avail

The beast, who had been languishing in the tank for more than an hour, dully climbed out and disappeared into the forest near the tea estate in Sangatram, north-east India.

A team of foresters from the Sukna Wildlife Squad had earlier tried to pull the leopard out of water with a net.

Climb for freedom: A wild leopard scales the ladder and runs back off to the nearby forest

But the animal refused to let himself be caught. The ladder was a lucky last resort.'

Monday, May 28, 2012

With their long faces and blank expressions, Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan do not look like a couple enjoying their honeymoon in the Eternal City of Rome.

Settling down for a meal surrounded by other diners in the heart of the Italian capital, the Facebook CEO seems to be staring straight past his new bride while she looks right past the multi-billionaire and at the floor.

Maybe the couple are preoccupied with the disastrous floatation of Facebook onto the stock market which has seen the social networking giant lose billions of dollars off its initial listing price.

Why the long faces?: Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan look awkward as they eat on their honeymoon in RomeHoneymooning in the Italian capital, Zuckerberg and Chan have been spotted around Rome by keen eyed locals and their movements have been posted not onto Facebook, but on Twitter.

So far the couple have taken in The Vatican's Sistine Chapel, the Spanish Steps and eaten at Pierluigi restaurant which has been an institution in Rome since 1938.

Tying the knot last weekend in the backyard of their $7 million home in Palo Alto, California in front of 100 guests, the wedding came one day after Facebook went public and was valued at $100 billion

During the ceremony, the couple of nine years apparently 'couldn't stop grinning' throughout and even went as far as to write their own vows.

Priscilla Chan seems to look past new husband Mark Zuckerberg as they eat their meal on honeymoon in Rome

The Colosseum in Rome is one of the sights that Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg have visited

The Papal Basilica of Saint Peterislocated within the Vatican City has also been visited by the honeymooning couple

Walking down the aisle wearing a $4,700 gown designed by Los Angeles-based designer Claire Pettibone, Chan was accompanied by the couple's Hungarian sheepdog, Beast.

The ceremony was a surprise to the 100 or so guests who gathered in the backyard of the Palo Alto home of Zuckerberg and the Facebook CEO is rumoured to have told his wife-to-be's grandmother of the intended nuptials by speaking to her in Chinese.

Inspired to learn the language by his new wife, Zuckerberg had been learning Chinese for two years.

Guests at the wedding enjoyed simple food from the newly wed's favourite Palo Alto Mexican and Japanese restaurants, Palo Alto Sol and Fuki Sushi, with the Mexican entrees reportedly costing $7.50 for each person.

True love: Priscilla Chan, the new Mrs Mark Zuckerberg, was walked down the aisle two Saturday's ago by the couple's dog Beast, a Hungarian sheepdog. The couple also wrote their own vows

It is thought that Zuckerberg and Chan had been planning the surprise wedding for over seven months, but had not even revealed that they were engaged.

Guests had arrived believing that they were there to celebrate Chan's graduation from her degree in pedatrics.

However, they were greeted with the sight of the multi-billionaire wearing a suit and tie, instead of his more usual jeans and hoodie.

Entertainment was provided by Green Day lead singer Billie Joe Armstrong and he played 'Last Night on Earth' as the couple performed the first dance.

Married: The couple have been together for nine years, but did not reveal their engagement

However, despite being on honeymoon and incognito for the past week, Zuckerberg has had a massive reversal in fortune since his wedding just over a week ago.

The much vaunted IPO has run into severe difficulties, with the share price down from $38 to $31 amid acrimony and accusations that the company was overvalued before the launch.

The Facebook founder is being sued in a class action for $2.8 billion for allegedly deceiving shareholders over the disappointing stock market flotation.

Couple: Ms Chan and Mr Zuckerberg met when they studied at Harvard and have been together ever since

He has also been accused of warning big investors of worsening revenue forecasts ahead for the social networking giant but not informing the public.

The lawsuit was filed in New York against Zuckerberg and senior Facebook executives by US law firm Robbins Geller, which in 2008 won a £4.5billion settlement for the shareholders of Enron.

The class action alleges that Facebook 'selectively disclosed' concerns that the company was struggling to raise money from users who access the social networking site via smartphones rather than PC's.

Guests: Those invited thought they were attending a party to celebrate Ms Chan's graduation

Arrival: Guests were pictured turning up at the Palo Alto home on Saturday afternoon

Private: Mr Zuckerberg is known to be secretive about his personal life despite running a social network

The lawsuit filed last week in the US District Court in Manhattan states that the Facebook as well as investment banks Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Barclays Capital secretly let 'certain preferred investors' know there were concerns over the share issue, thereby enabling them to sell quickly.

'The true facts at the time of the IPO were that Facebook was then experiencing a severe and pronounced reduction in revenue growth due to an increase of users of its Facebook app or website through mobile devices rather than a traditional PC such that the company told the underwriter defendants to materially lower their revenue forecasts for 2012.' states the lawsuit.

The lawsuit seeks to claim the money lost from the current drop on the opening price of $38.

Drinks: The Facebook founder ordered large amounts of alcohol in anticipation of the party

'We are seeking damages to the value of the amount investors have lost, which is $7 per share for 421million shares,' said David Rosenfeld, a partner at Robbins Geller, the law-firm who has been charged with handling the class action.

'Mr Zuckerberg was put on the lawsuit because he was one of those who signed the stock market registration statement, which makes him liable for anything which is not true on it.'

Flotation: Mr Zuckerberg opened trading on the Nasdaq last Friday, the day of Facebook's IPO

Indeed, anger has also been personally vented towards Zuckerberg as it was revealed he sold 30.2 million of his own shares very soon after the launch, making himself $1.13 billion.

In a statement, Morgan Stanley said that it 'followed the same procedures for the Facebook offering that it follows for all IPOs. These procedures are in compliance with all applicable regulations'.

-Lindsay Sandiford was caught with '4.7kg of drugs in lining of suitcase'-The haul had been hidden under water bottles, according to Bali police-Sandiford, 56, was arrested and agreed to take part in a sting operation -She claimed: 'I carried the drugs because my children were threatened'-Housewife then led police to four other suspects, including a British couple-All five were paraded as a press conference with the smuggled cocaine-Officials told reporters the group was part of a 'big international network'-Maximum sentence for drug trafficking in Indonesia is death by firing squad

By Richard Shears and Emma Reynolds

Distressed: Alleged drug trafficker identified as Lindsay Sandiford in front of the huge pile of cocaine at the Customs Office in Denpasar, Bali, todayThe British middle-aged woman facing the death penalty for allegedly trafficking cocaine worth £1.6 million into Bali has been branded a 'neighbour from hell'.

Housewife Lindsay Sandiford, 56, was allegedly caught with 4.7kg of the Class A drug hidden in a suitcase when she landed on the Indonesian island.

The mother-of-two is currently understood to be living in Redcar, Cleveland, but was previously a tenant in a £275,000 detached property in Cheltenham, Glos.

Yesterday neighbours described how she outwardly appeared to be a respectable middle class mother - but was actually a nuisance neighbour.

Strict laws: Smuggling drugs on to the Indonesian island can result in a maximum penalty of death by firing squad

Balinese police today paraded all five suspects at two press conferences in the capital city of Denpasar.

Sandiford, who had allegedly been caught with 4.7 kilograms (11 pounds) of cocaine, covered her head and appeared to weep as she sat behind the Class A haul.

She was dressed in a standard-issue orange T-shirt and still wearing her glasses and jewellery.

Customs official Made Wijaya told reporters that Sandiford's innocent demeanour was just an act.

'Despite what you see as a seemingly unassuming appearance, we believe that she has been part of a international narcotics syndicate for a long time,' he said.'This is a big international network.'.

The package was cut open with a knife during the press conference to reveal white powder.

'Conspirators': A younger British woman, centre, and three others suspected of being on hand to receive the drugs were arrested and dressed in prison uniforms with their faces covered by black balaclavas

Paraded: Three Britons and an Indian national were seen dressed in ill-fitting orange outfits and flip-flops after their arrests

Shamed: The suspected smugglers are lined up in front of the media, all with their faces covered aside from Mrs Sandiford

The other four suspects were 'shown off' separately by police. However, they had their faces covered with balaclavas.

All were dressed in orange prison uniforms while one wore shorts and green flip-flops under his overalls

The married couple, who own a villa in Bali, according to the The Jakarta Post, have only been identified as JAP and RLD.

RLD shouted angrily, 'It's a fit-up', and indicated that the evidence had been planted.

Sandiford was arrested on May 19 at Denpasar airport after arriving on a Thai Airways flight from Bangkok, according to Mr Wijaya.

The drugs were in the lining of her suitcase covered by water bottles. They were found after security staff put the luggage through an x-ray machine.

When Sandiford was interviewed by police she broke down and claimed that her children, who live in the UK, had been threatened and that was the only reason she had agreed to smuggle the drugs.

She subsequently consented to take part in the sting operation and delivered the cocaine to JAP, who was arrested.

He directed officers to his villa in Tabanan where police discovered 48.94g of cocaine hidden in a black bag and arrested his wife, RLD.

Humiliated: The British housewife covered her face with her hand today after she was arrested at Bali's international airport after alighting from an aeroplane

On show: The suspect accused of hiding 4.7kg (11lbs) of cocaine in her luggage is led through a custom office in Denpasar, Bali

All were dressed in orange prison uniforms while one wore shorts and green flip-flops under his overalls. The married couple, who own a villa in Bali, according to the The Jakarta Post, have only been identified as JAP and RLD.

RLD shouted angrily, 'It's a fit-up', and indicated that the evidence had been planted. Sandiford was arrested on May 19 at Denpasar airport after arriving on a Thai Airways flight from Bangkok, according to Mr Wijaya.

The drugs were in the lining of her suitcase covered by water bottles. They were found after security staff put the luggage through an x-ray machine.

When Sandiford was interviewed by police she broke down and claimed that her children, who live in the UK, had been threatened and that was the only reason she had agreed to smuggle the drugs.

She subsequently consented to take part in the sting operation and delivered the cocaine to JAP, who was arrested.

He directed officers to his villa in Tabanan where police discovered 48.94g of cocaine hidden in a black bag and arrested his wife, RLD.

Using information extracted from these two suspects, police were able to capture the other two suspects the next day, kompas.com reported today.

They arrested NA, the Indian national, in a villa in Badung, where they found 78 plastic bags filled with ecstasy. They arrested PB in a villa in Kuta with 3.36 grams of hashish.

Police said they will continue to use Sandiford to lure out other members of the alleged Bali drug syndicate.

Island paradise: Bali was once a haven for drugs but in the past ten years the authorities have cracked down on the importation of narcotics and anyone found with more than a few grams of Class A drugs faces death

If convicted, all five face a maximum penalty of death by firing squad. Mr Wijaya said that Bali was working hard to stop international smugglers who brought drugs on to the island.

'If this woman, and anyone else who is subsequently charged, is found guilty, the punishment will be the death penalty,' he said.

Bali regularly parades suspected drug smugglers - and their wares - in front of the press in a deliberate effort to shame them

Indonesia has extremely strict drug laws and convicted smugglers can be executed, with more than 140 people currently on death row, a third of them foreigners.

Bali was once a haven for drugs but in the past ten years the authorities have cracked down on the importation of narcotics and anyone found with more than a few grams of Class A drugs faces death.

One of the most famous Western detainees is 35-year-old Australian Schapelle Corby, who was convicted of smuggling 9.2lbs of marijuana on to the island.

She is serving a 20-year sentence, which has been reduced in recent months, and she hopes to receive parole by 2015.

Last November, a 14-year-old Australian boy was sentenced to two months in a brutal jail on the holiday island for alleged possession of marijuana.

Two members of Australian drug smuggling gang the 'Bali Nine', arrested in 2005, are on death row, while seven others face lengthy jail terms.

In February, 53-year-old Jack Walker from Greater Manchester, was given a reprieve when he was told he would not face the death penalty after allegedly being caught with a large quantity of crystal meth.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: 'We are aware of the arrest in Bali, and we stand ready to provide consular assistance.'

Spectacular: Hundreds of thousands of tourists visit Bali every year for the sublime views

Saturday, May 26, 2012

-Britain's fattest teenager Georgia Davis, 19, had 'settled night' in hospital-It took the 30-strong team almost eight hours to get her to an ambulance-Friends leave messages of support and say she was 'stressed' by the ordeal-Rescuers built a bridge to carry her and had a crane ready if it was needed

By Luke Salkeld

A 63-stone girl who had to be rescued from her own home has been fed a diet of junk food and fizzy drinks by her mother, it emerged last night.

Georgia Davis, 19, needed urgent care on Thursday but had to wait eight hours as walls were knocked down before she could be carried from her home into an ambulance.

The operation to cut into her home cost emergency workers an estimated £100,000.

She is due to remain in hospital over the weekend while doctors continue to test her for medical complaints including diabetes, kidney disease, spinal problems and respiratory failure.

Rescued: Georgia, 19, from Aberdare, South Wales, is Britain's fattest teenager weighing around 63 stoneHer mother Lesley has previously spoken of her guilt over the teenager’s obesity.

Neighbours of the family in Aberdare, South Wales, said it was the 57-year-old who bought Georgia’s food.

One said: ‘Lesley does the shopping for the family on a regular basis just like any other mother going to the supermarket.

‘Georgia lives on processed ready-meals, sandwiches and packs of peanuts and crisps. She is also partial to sausages, pasties, chips, chocolate and chunks of cheese with bottles of coke or pints of milk.’

A 10ft by 10ft space was cut into to the top floor of the house in Aberdare, South Wales, so that the emergency services could remove 19-year-old Georgia Davis

The scene as Georgia was removed from her home and loaded into an ambulance yesterday

Yesterday, the teenager remained in her private room at Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil, South Wales.

Mrs Davis and Georgia’s 74-year-old step-father said she was ‘doing fine’, though she is said to have been ‘stressed’ by the ordeal.

But Mrs Davis refused to talk about her condition in detail.

She has previously said of Georgia’s weight: ‘I feel guilty, of course I do.’

In an interview, she said she and her daughter had started comfort eating after her husband Geoff died when Georgia was five.

Ambulance men, paramedics, contractors from RCT homes, police, firemen, social workers all helped in the operation

A bridge was also built from the roadside to the top floor with between 30 to 40 people involved in the operation

But she said she had later made a determined effort to change their diets – such as making her own chips instead of buying them from the takeaway.

She said in the interview: ‘I wish I could turn back the clock. But if you’ve never had food addiction, you can’t understand. You try to fight it but it’s like a drug.’

In the past, she has spoken of eating ‘a couple of loaves-worth of sandwiches filled with jam or cheese or meat’ every day.

This was in addition to five bags of cheese and onion crisps, two packets of chocolate bourbons, sponge cake, trifle chocolate cake, and four sausages with mashed potato and baked beans for dinner, as well as fizzy drinks.

The cost of removing Georgia is likely to run into tens of thousands of pounds to cover manpower, plus the emergency call-out and the reconstruction of the demolished walls

The operation began just after 9am, and she was seen leaving the scene in an ambulance just after 5pm

Neighbours said she was thought to now weigh 63 stone, but added that it was impossible to know her true weight as it would require a specialist scale to measure.

Friends and family said they were praying her condition would not deteriorate further. One said yesterday: ‘It had got to the stage where she couldn’t get out of bed, nurses were visiting her every day to turn her over and wash her.

‘We are all hoping and praying that she pulls through and somehow can be put on the road to leading a normal life.’

A 40-strong team of builders, scaffolders and crew from all three emergency services was involved in the complex operation to remove Georgia from her home on Thursday.

Georgia lost 15 stone after her visit to a U.S. weight loss camp (left) but was piling on the pounds by September last year (right)

Georgia Davis, aged 17, was weighing around 40st. Pictured with her mother Lesley

As well as knocking down walls, they built a temporary ramp from the first floor of the house to the pavement to get her out, while local traffic had to be diverted.

It was the first time Georgia had left the house in over six months. Now Mrs Davis is said to be hoping to move into a new bungalow near their home – at taxpayers’ expense – so her daughter can be taken to hospital more easily.

Georgia has battled to bring down her weight for several years, attending ‘boot-camps’ abroad and trying to improve her health at her local gym.

Three years ago Georgia managed to lose half her body weight after attending a £3,600-a-month weight loss camp in the US.

Her mother says Georgia was always a large child, pictured here eating a lolly as a toddler

Early signs: Georgia was an overweight toddler, and the rapid growth has continued to this day

But after returning home she struggled to stick to her 1,500-calories-a-day diet.

She also took up a strict exercise plan at a women’s gym in a nearby street, but gave up because she could not cope with the two-mile distance there and back.

At the time, she told friends on Facebook: ‘I’ve got a personal trainer and life coach, I’ve got the help now, this is why it’s going to work. I want to do it now.

‘But I refuse to believe that from my house to the bottom of Monk Street is just one mile.’

She also failed to stick to the small portions of a £240-a-month controlled meal plan, telling friends: ‘I’m coming off this diet – you can only try things and this one failed. This diet is not for me but at least I tried.’

A hospital spokesman said yesterday: ‘This young lady has had a settled night and has been seen this morning by the consultant in charge of her care.

‘Initial assessments have been undertaken and she will be undergoing further assessment during the day to assist in her plan of care.’